Automatic repair loop Aspire XC885

AncientFellow2020

Aspire XC885 PC keeps going into automatic repair loop how do I stop it? None of the repair options work

(Thread was edited to add model name to the title)

ragsak28

Hi @AncientFellow2020

You can try to do the BIOS reset.

How do I reset my BIOS/UEFI to default settings?

1. Turn on the computer and keep on tapping the F2 button continuously to get in to the BIOS.
2. Press F9 and then Enter to load the default configuration.
3. Press F10 and then Enter to save and exit.

If that doesn't work then you can try to do the reset.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-refresh-reset-or-restore-your-pc-51391d9a-eb0a-84a7-69e4-c2c1fbceb8dd

Check the above link to do the complete reset.

Note: You will loose all your information stored in the computer during this reset process.

Hope it will help you in some way.

Larryodie

Create you a WIN Boot disk. Download Win10 or Win11 tool . You have a choice to loose all or keep your data.
To boot, enable F12 in bios then reboot while punching F12.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d

AncientFellow2020

I followed Bios reset made no difference. Can't access Windows to reset. Options in repair mode resets to 5% then stops.

AncientFellow2020

How do I create a USB boot up without access to my PC?

ttttt

@AncientFellow2020

Your case may needed to be repaired by a fresh install of Windows or reset the PC at least, I have similar experience with Automatic Repair Loop but fixed with a clean install:

1) Use a fresh FAT32 USB flash drive no more than 32GB capacity to download from Microsoft site the Media Creation Tool, then download the Win 10 or Win 11 that you want. This flash drive will become bootable.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

2) Without full access of the PC you still can use this flash drive.
    When doing a cold boot, while still in black screen, keep tapping the F12 key ( or the Fn+F12 key for some Acer keyboards) until you see the bootmenu.

3) Choose to boot from the flash drive, a restore menu may be available. You can choose to rest PC by retaining data. If the problem persist, then doing a clean install from this flash drive may be the only option left.

4) After doing a clean install, when acivating Windows, you may be asked to enter Windows productt key. Just choose " I don't have a product key. Windows can detect the product key from the motherboard automatically.

Hope you have your data backup properly, as a clean install will wipe out everything from the old HDD/SSD. Maybe you can buy a new HDD/SSD for this clean install and leave the old HDD/SSD untouch for the mean time. Once the PC working O.K., then you will try to recover the data from the old HDD/SSD later.

I believe your XC-885 can use M.2 NVMe SSD. Take this as an opportunity to upgrade from old, mechanical HDD to M.2 NVMe SSD is a good idea. PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 NVMe SSD(3,400 MB/s read) is close to 30 times faster than mechanical HDD (110 MB/s ).

Larryodie

You create the boot USB on a different computer that has windows, Even a different brand. But if you can't get into bios to change the F12 Boot Enable or do a ALT F10 then maybe hold power forever, remove some ram or the hard drive. I' just guessing so good luck.
I try ALT-F10 first.

billsey

You sound like you can access the BIOS and the issue only rears when it then tries to load Windows. That indicates the issue is likely with the Windows install on your drive, or the drive itself. The XC-885 models came with a SSD, a HDD or both. Do you know how yours is configured? In the BIOS; Advanced tab; Integrated Peripherals screen what is shows for the drives? It might be simpler to just take a picture of that screen and post it here. Next, what is on the computer that you can't lose? If there's nothing irreplaceable on it and we find the drive is working fine then the easiest next step is to just reinstall Windows. If you have data on there that you can't do without then the next step is to boot from a Windows install flash drive (as suggested, created on a different computer) and copy that data off somewhere so you can keep it, then reinstall Windows and copy the data back. If it turns out the drive has gone bad then the solution is to replace it with a new one (I'd suggest an M.2 SSD NVMe x4 as it's the fastest choice) and reinstall the OS. If the drive is bad, but not completely gone away you might still be able to copy some of the data off...